How could we work if once we knew
Just what for us in store,
The future holds; would we be true
And better than before?
Could we go forward fearing not,
To life’s results disclose?
Or would we tremble at a lot,
Where rue displaced the rose?

Courageous to the present meet,
Or woe or bliss it brings;
Confront its joys, its pleasures sweet,
Its hopes, its sufferings.
A soul, improving moments well,
Need never dread the days;
The space is small wherein we dwell,
But broader than our gaze.

The space is small but if we list,
Its limits will expand.
Each enemy of right resist
And gauge the hour’s demand.
To-morrow’s page we cannot read,
To-day alone is bright;
Each point to conscience we concede
Returns to us, as light.